Softex provides Thematic Booklet on Information Economics and the Internet

10/10/2013

The Brazilian Information Economy sector will reach the end of 2013 with around 147 thousand companies and gross revenue of approximately R$ 490 billion. The estimates are part of the Study “Economy of Information and the Internet”, a new publication that integrates the Thematic Notebooks series of the Observatory, Softex's study and research unit. The initiative was supported by the Financier of Studies and Projects (Finep) and the Brazilian Internet Management Committee (CGI.br).
 
The document, which made use of data obtained from official sources and had the technical cooperation of the IBGE, analyzes the process of digital convergence between the Information Economy, telecommunications, information technology and content and media sectors, as well as the impacts caused , bringing data on its magnitude, composition, evolution and performance in Brazil.
 
In 2010, the Information Economy represented 2% of the country's total workforce, with 1.4 million people, including employees, self-employed and employers. About 80% of this total was in the formal market, having labor and/or social security registration. Compared to the total number of people with a formal contract in the country, professionals employed in the Information Economy have a lower average age and are, mainly, the younger ones who are postponing the social security contribution. Also in 2010, 7.6% of the total Brazilian workforce, that is, 6.3 million people, was composed of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialists and ICT users. The majority, 4.2 million, were basic ICT users.
 
According to Virgínia Duarte, manager of the Softex Observatory, “compared to the total presented by Brazil, there was a greater participation of workers with complete higher education and with higher average income”.
 
Profile
 
The work shows that of the group of ICT specialists, formed by 1.2 million people, 6.8% (80.8 thousand) had a managerial level occupation, 34.3% (410.8 thousand) had a profile of competences of level superior and the almost 60% remaining (704.5 thousand) had a mid-level technical profile.
 
Services related to ICTs account for a significant part of the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the Brazilian Information Economy sector, with 71.9% of the total. Of this percentage, 37.1% are related to telecommunications services and the remaining 34.8% are related to software and IT services.
 
Niche markets and serving small and medium-sized customers

It was also detected a high sensitivity of the sector to the dynamics of the Brazilian economy, growing and retracting according to the moments of expansion and retraction of the economy as a whole. In the software and IT services market, the study points out that the opportunities for companies with national capital are found in niche markets and in serving small and medium-sized customers, an expressive universe, in rapid growth, but still little explored. by large technology providers for reasons of scale.
 
Customer profile and resource constraints for IT investments, as well as access to infrastructure and equipment, tend to limit the possibility of offering solutions with high technological content.
 
In terms of future guidelines for the sector, the work indicates that action plans could be directed to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) of software and IT services, seeking to strengthen their businesses. To this end, resources are needed to map the market, identify and acquire complementary companies, expand sales channels and improve products and services.
 
Small and Medium Enterprises
 
Still in relation to SMEs, the study defends their inclusion, with their products and services, in the process of modernization and restructuring of production chains in key sectors of the economy, with a vocation to promote human development and social progress, such as food, transport , health, education, commerce, housing and security.